Last night we had found the Gambousias camp site just
before dark, as nothing else was available. It was really an act of
desparation. The facilities were very, very basic and disgusting.
The site itself was a cross between an olive orchard and a cow field and it was
miles out of Rabat, where we wanted to be today. Not a great success. We
rose early and followed Jessica and Andre In their Land Rover into Rabat
headed for the Mauritanian embassy. We were lucky to have them as guides,
as I doubt we would have found it without them. For others who may be
looking for it in the future, the GPS co-ordinates are: N33 58.807 W006 49.915
and the street is 6 Rue Thami Lamdawar. The Malian Embassy is a few houses
down the same street.

Today was Mission Visa and we succeeded in getting our
visas for both Mauritania and Mali, although it took all day. After we had put
in the Mauritanian visa application and while we waited for it to be issued we
visited the British Embassy to register as Brits travelling in Morocco and also
to see what local information we could garner on the situation in the Western
Sahara. The security procedures were worse than Heathrow and when we
eventually got in to see someone it proved to be absolutely useless and a
complete waste of time. We were told that UK Embassies no longer register
travellers as it is all done online. Pity we didn't know as we wouldn't
have bothered! The young (local hire?) female we saw had no local information on
the Western Sahara. Her approach was - have you looked on the FCO website?
Yes, we had. Well, we have no more information. Is the Western Sahara
closed to foreigners? Does it say that it is on the website? No. In that case it
isn't. Very reassuring! Speaking as a UK tax payer, why we continue to
support these people living in palatial surroundings and living in luxury, I
really don't know. I spent many years as a British businessman working
overseas and quickly found that they offer no support at all to advancing
British business interests abroad. Now I know they are useless for British
subjects travelling overseas. Next time we won't waste our time. She couldn't
even tell us where to find a good bookshop!

It was interesting meeting other overland travellers at
the Embassies, French, German, Dutch, Spanish all with Land Rovers and then two
trucks each carrying 20+ and going all the way to Cape Town. No one
seems particularly concerned about Western Sahara and we are now more relaxed
about it being possible.

By the time we got the Mali visas it was after 4 o'clock
and we had nowhere to stay, not wanting to go back to the cow field. We drove
around Rabat, in thick evening traffic, looking for a cheap hotel and just
succeeded in getting lost. We then drove down the coast road looking for a hotel
some French travellers had recommended, but didn't find it. By that time
it was almost dark and we hadn't eaten all day. Jenny was feeding me cold
sausage in fresh bread and Emma's "survival cake", as we drove. We finally
came upon a sign for Maison d'hotes, "Riyad Alhambra", tucked away off the road
in a residential area. It turned out to be a very exclusive, incredibly
decorated and furnished private home, open for visitors. The host, Abadallah
Alaoui, showed us round with great pride and, although it was way above our
budget it was an experience we couldn't pass over. Besides, we had nowhere else
to go and were too tired and hungry to look further.